Dear Sir,
I would like to congratulate you, Your Excellency JOHN
DRAMANI MAHAMA for winning the 2012 Presidential election. I am tempted to
believe that those who voted for you and your party did so because they thought
your government would improve their livelihood as was amplified by the title of
your manifesto, “Better Ghana” and was further reechoed by your
“Edey bee Keke” mantra
during the campaigns.
Even though power was not one of the issues that took center
stage during the campaigns, it is now clear that it should have been one of the
issues that should have taken a center stage.
Over the last four years that your predecessor Prof. John E.A. Mills of
blessed memory was in office, we were made to believe by various members of the
communication team of your party that the country was experiencing economic
growth which veracity was corroborated by the World Bank. What beats my
imagination is why we went to sleep thinking our energy sector was vibrant
enough to sustain the well-publicized economic growth that the country was enjoying.
Mr. President, I would like to point out to you that the
current intermittent breach in power supply is not a thing that a country that
is trying to build on the successes chalked in terms of economic growth should
take lightly. We are made to believe that you and the members of your energy team
are working very hard to get the problem solved.
Mr. President, with all due respect, for how long do we have
to hear this? Ever since the current power rationing started, we have not be informed of what government was doing to get the problem solved. The impression
was created as if our power sector is now solely owned by the private sector.
For instance, we were told by Electricity Company of Ghana that the level of
electricity supplied by GRIDCO for distribution is inadequate and GRIDCO also
said that the electricity generated by VRA for transmission is inadequate. It
is only those who are good at cracking puzzle that can be able to work out
whichever of them is telling the truth.
Mr. President, the current power situation does not provide
an enabling environment for investment. I was very disheartened when I heard
some businessmen in a news item carried on Joy News on February 19, 2013, that
they are left with no option than to lay-off some of their workers. One issue
that dominated the media in days leading to the election was the issue of
graduate unemployment. How can we curb the unemployment menace with this
perpetual darkness we are experiencing? All the talks of creating employment
will remain a fantasy if nothing meaningful is done to improve the energy
sector.
Even as I am writing this letter, my light is off; I have to
type and fan myself at this same time. It's hell here! Our appliances are getting spoilt day in day
out. As those who have generator in their homes make do with what they have
with all the unbearable noise at the expense of those of us who do not have,
they were once again dealt with a big blow when the subsidy on petrol was
scrapped off. Mr. President, this is not
what I thought was the better Ghana that you promised us but if it is, then I
think we are rather in for a “bitter Ghana”.
Some of us believe that the problem we are having is as a
result of the visionless leaders we have had since Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. In order
for leaders to appease their people, they gave the Energy Ministry to people
who were no technocrat. We would not have been in this position if the Ministry
was handled by technocrats. Mr. President, this is not the time to use the
Energy Ministry as a tool to appease the boys. We need a technocrat to handle
the Energy Ministry.
Some people are proposing privatizing the energy sector in
order to ensure efficiency but I would not encourage that because of what
economists call market failure.
I strongly believe that what is needed is, having qualified
persons occupying the Energy Ministry. Mr. President, I also believe that
government should increase its investment in the energy sector. Now that the prices
of fuel have gone up, the only way to woo investors into the country is to
improve our electricity production and distribution. I do not think any
businessman would like to operate in a country where electricity distribution
is woefully poor. I also believe that information dissemination on the part of
the service providers in the energy sector should also improve. Light goes off
arbitrarily thereby causing damage to electrical gadgets of unsuspecting
Ghanaians.
Mr. President, you may not sense my frustration in the
letter but that is because of the enormous respect I have for you. From what I
have gathered so far in the media, I can say with all certainty that you can
kiss your desire for a second term goodbye if the situation does not improve as
quickly as possible.
In a nutshell, I will implore you to improve the Energy
sector now or leave it as it is for it to cause your disapproval.
Thanks.
WRITER: Mr. Brooks
